Chikanobu: Sea Bathing 海水浴 Daydreams by Magic Lantern (SOLD)

Artist: Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912)
Title: Sea Bathing 海水浴 Date: 1890

Series: Magic Lantern Comparison 幻燈写心競 (Gento shashin kurabe)

A woman leans forward over a wash basin, drying her face with a towel. Behind her is a square basin with goldfish and green plants. In the “magic lantern” inset we see a famous beach populated by people in matching swimming costumes; they seem to be wearing a western type of shorts and straw hats secured with scarves. As they all wear matching bathing accessories, we can assume that they are on the beach of a resort. Sea bathing, 海水浴 kaisuiyoku, was different from recreational swimming, which came later in the Meiji period. It began as a health/medical practice as recommended by a  German and a Japanese physician, which recommended being struck by waves while immersed in the ocean as therapeutic. This practice gradually turned into a seaside resort activity, and towards the end of the Meiji period beach activities turned more towards recreational swimming. All but one of the figures shown in this image on the beach are obviously men, with one person wearing a long-sleeved shirt whose gender is indeterminate. With this series, the “daydreams” part of the conceit seems to indicate the woman in the foreground as inserting themselves into the inset scene with their imagination. Perhaps the person wearing the shirt is meant to represent the woman wearing the kimono in the main image. We see that her summer kimono featuring chidori and waves has a translucent outer layer and can see the red under-layer shining through in places. In the distance we see Mount Fuji. Magic lanterns that used projected glass slides were known as gentô in the Meiji period, and were very popular at the time, and were even used as educational aids.

Oiso is the earliest and most famous of the early recreational/therapeutic beaches, but this view would seem to be from Shichirigahama.

The V&A catalog has translated this series as “Daydreams by Magic Lantern”, although this would be a very nontraditional translation of “kurabe”, which is generally translated as comparison or competition. Perhaps it does show women where they are vs. where they’d like to be.

Publisher: Yokoyama Ryohachi
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Dimensions: ôban 36.7 x 25 cm  Signature: Yôshû Chikanobu hitsu

SKU: CHK092